Tsukuro to Open on Fort Lauderdale Beach; Chef Needed

Subpar Mexican food, mediocre pizza, or deep-fried corporate crap crab cakes? Take your pick. It's no secret that Fort Lauderdale beach isn't exactly overflowing with options for great places to eat unless, of course, you opt for a glitzy hotel restaurant or a Fort Lauderdale beach mainstay, and even then, let's be honest, the food is good, but is it blowing anyone's mind? Not exactly.

This winter, Fort Lauderdale Restaurant Group's new Asian-inspired restaurant, Tsukuro, will make its debut on the busy A1A strip. With its glass facade and colorful mosaic ceiling, the soon-to-be darling of the restaurant group is throwing its hat into the ring to see if it can beat its toughest competition: itself.

Artist's Rendering of Tsukuro.

The Fort Lauderdale Restaurant Group's bars and restaurants dominate nearly a quarter-mile of Fort Lauderdale's popular A1A strip. Its properties include Exit 66, Rock Bar, St. Bart's Cafe, Dirty Blonde's, Sangrias, and Spazio. Before continuing, let's talk about the elephant in the room. These places are, to be diplomatic, designed for tourists who are either so elated to be out of the cold or too sun-drunk to care how much that they are paying for passable nachos and gigantic margaritas.

What will make Tsukuro stand out from the restaurant group's other properties? A unique design and an executive chef. Both the restaurant's unique, hybrid name, which means "where the
moon arrives over the water," and its two-story, open-air design were inspired
by nature. The restaurant will be
made entirely of glass, seat up to 350 people, and include a
private dining room that seats 20.The top of the restaurant, which is
located between Spazio and Rock Bar, has been framed out in preparation
for its vibrant mosaic glass ceiling.

Tsukuro will be unlike the restaurant group's other restaurants, which, according to the group's marketing director, Arianne Glassman, are not "chef-driven." The group is currently interviewing potential candiates to helm the restaurant and design its Asian-inspired small-plates menu. In addition to serving small plates, the casual-dining restaurant will have three additional bars -- raw, live sushi, and sake. Tsukuro is slated to open December
1.

What's your prediction? New hot spot or another tourist trap? Weigh in in the comments section below.